Am I Over Stocked

[tammy12179]

I am not new to the hobby but never put much thought to it. I want help because i am trying to learn the proper way to do everything and make the best life i can for my fish. I restarted stocking my tank about a month ago it was always up and running but had a lone female guppy in it. My tank is 25g in it i have 2 peppered corys, 2 panda corys, 2 dojo loaches, 1 pleco, 2 female guppies and 2 male guppies ( i know not good ratio but two female guppies died) 1 marble molly, 2 black mollys, 2 white mollys and 6 platys. i have a rena hob filter that is ment for a 40g tank. please let me know if i am over stocked if i should maybe add another few corys or what you all suggest thank you.

 

[tammy12179]

Please will some one help me out?

 

[Mikaila31]

Sounds overstocked IMO. I would definetly get rid of the pleco. Also how is water quality in the tank? and how often do you do water changes?

 

[OldMan47]

The plec will get too big for that tank so best to get rid of it soon while other people will still take it. Once that is gone you would have a heavy but manageable stock level.

 

[JenCliBee]

The plec will get too big for that tank so best to get rid of it soon while other people will still take it. Once that is gone you would have a heavy but manageable stock level.

why will the plec get 2 big for the tank lol you dont even know what species it is .... it may well be a bristlenose and that would be fine


think the stocking isnt 2 bad (if it is a bristlenose) the only thing i would suggest is upgrading the filter maybe 2 an external it would be more efficient and keep the tank in better condition

as asked above tho wots ur cleaning regime ie water changes and how much u change ...gravel vacs etc etc

and do u know ur water stats ...ammonia/nitrites/nitrates the more info given the better

oh and btw hi and welcome 2 tff

jen

 

[tammy12179]

I am not certain the type of pleco i got. I bought it at walmart so they dont say exactly what type it is. I do 20% water changes every week by gravel vac. I did my first water test two weeks ago and nothing was bad but the nitrates maybe were alittle touchy at work now so dont have the exact numbers. I been thinking about going to an external filter but the not sure if i can afford it and which one would be the best to purchase. Also thinking about changing my gravel to sand. Thank you every one for your help and responses.

 

[SharonCC]

WalMart generally carries the Common Pleco in my area...You can Google the Common and see if it matches yours. If it is the Common Pleco, they get HUGE!

 

[chefrossco]

if it is a bristle nose plec - you will be fine- however if it is a sailfin plec they get MAHOOSIVE!! and so will definatly outgrow tank- well he'll explode actually!!

other than the plec i'd say that you were fine. for a 25G id say that you could add a few more guppys really!

 

[tammy12179]

the pleco is a sailfin pleco. so since that is to big what kind of algae cleaner would you suggest i have tried siamese algae eaters but i can not seem to get them to live very long other people i know say the same thing.

 

[drobbyb]

If you can find them, siamese algae eaters make decent algae eaters. They can be hard to come by though. There are also the chinese algae eaters but at around 3 inches they turn into silent killers.

I had been looking for several months before I came across one, and they only had 1 of them. True SAE have a dark stripe that goes through the eyes and through the tail.

 

[tammy12179]

Just ordered a fluval 305 external filter thanks for the advice jenclibee now just debating on what to do with my pleco.

 

[JenCliBee]

Just ordered a fluval 305 external filter thanks for the advice jenclibee now just debating on what to do with my pleco.

hi you could see if your LFS would exchange for a credit note or a smaller species plec (if they stock them that is ) u could try bristlenose or somethink like a clown plecs both stay small and very nice low maintenance so 2 speak plecs

 

[tammy12179]

hi you could see if your LFS would exchange for a credit note or a smaller species plec (if they stock them that is ) u could try bristlenose or somethink like a clown plecs both stay small and very nice low maintenance so 2 speak plecs
[/quote]


Thats where things get difficult for me i live in a small town with no lfs the closest is 1.5 hours away.

 

[OldMan47]

You could also talk to the people at Walmart about taking it back. They probably won't give you anything but I would expect them to take it in. A decent fish for algae control that stays small is an otocinclus. You need to carefully select them for healthy appearance and don't get one until you have a lot of algae on things because they are hard to feed anything but algae. If you know you are going to get one, let the algae get completely out of hand before bringing an oto home.

 

[tammy12179]

Thanks old man i will look into that the next time i head into a city. i also have two 10 gallon tanks but only one up and running had algae growing in there so got my parents to pick me up some siamese algae eaters two died with in the same day but the third is still going strong but now i find out it is not a SAE but its a chinese algae eater. just going to have to keep my eyes open and check out every pet store in the city when i go i guess. thanks for every ones advice and knowledge